Speech by Mr. Michael Ahern T.D., Minister for Innovation Policy, World Intellectual Property Day 2008

Event hosted by William Fry’s Solicitors

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

I am very happy to be with you here today to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day 2008. It is an honour to share this platform with the distinguished Irish EU Commissioner, and my former colleague, Mr. Charlie McCreevy.

WIPO – the World Intellectual Property Organisation is the United Nations body charged with oversight and development of global IP rules. With its Member States it celebrates World Intellectual Property Day at this time each year, through a wide range of events and functions around the world. Since its launch in 2001, the extent to which the Day is marked has grown annually in popularity.

I must express my thanks at the outset to William Fry’s for building, through this luncheon-briefing here today, on its commitment over the years to celebrating World Intellectual Property Day. Amongst other events in Ireland of which I am aware, the Patents Office in Kilkenny organised an Art Competition for Primary Schools, and an Essay Competition for Secondary Schools in Kilkenny, around the theme of ‘It Started With an Idea’. The Office also hosted an Open Day on Friday last (25 April) to encourage more people to become familiar with Intellectual Property.

I see the increasing interest in marking World IP Day as reflecting an increasing awareness of the importance of promoting, protecting and using “know-how” and its importance. That said, we all know however, that there are still a lot more people, bodies and businesses who need - in their own interests and those of the wider society and economy - to understand the importance of promoting, protecting and using IP. World IP Day remains an ideal opportunity to raise further the public awareness of Intellectual Property.

Each year, WIPO selects a theme for the day. As Minister for Innovation Policy I was pleased to learn that this year’s theme is Innovation; and the focus is on celebrating innovation and promoting respect for intellectual property. Commenting on this choice, Dr Kamil Idris, the Director General of WIPO, points to the need to celebrate not only the enormous power of human creativity, but also the intellectual property rights that help to convert that into an important driving force for development.

WIPO asks us to use this year’s events to pay tribute to the inventors and artists who enrich us with the fruits of their innovative thoughts and creative vision, and also to remember why the intellectual property rights they have earned through their talents deserve our admiration, our protection, and our respect.

I think the choice of innovation as the theme for this year’s IP Day is a particularly apt one; intellectual property policy and action are important elements of, and important contributors to, a wider innovation strategy. While individual and corporate enterprise are the prime source of innovation, public policy has important assisting roles in this.

This assistance needs to draw on a range of policy instruments. It includes increasing scientific and technological innovation, but also support in fields such as education, lifelong learning and skills development. In the most innovative countries, virtually every policy domain is connected to innovation.

The creation, protection and exploitation of intellectual property are key concerns in considering any world-class innovation environment. Technology transfer and commercialisation flourish where intellectual property rights, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights, are guaranteed and legally enforced. That requires, amongst other things, that we continue to develop our intellectual property framework.

As Minister with responsibility for coordinating innovation policy across Government, one of my primary aims is to raise the profile of innovation, and to support this across all of our policies. I want to create a national innovation agenda, combining an awareness of the depth and breadth of innovation activity already taking place in Ireland and supported by our development agencies, with a determination to stimulate the demand for more innovative products and services.

To achieve this a mapping exercise was undertaken through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment from mid-2007 onwards, to identify the current supports for innovation in Ireland, to explore specific areas where innovation can be better exploited and to look towards future innovation support arrangements.

Following completion of this process we recently submitted to Government an innovation policy statement entitled ‘Innovation in Ireland’. This identifies 10 key policies areas which underpin the Governments approach to innovation. It outlines the various supports that exist for innovation across the relevant Irish government departments and highlights specific areas where we believe innovation can be better exploited.

I hope to publish this statement very shortly. In doing so, my aim is to:

Firstly, map the various supports across relevant Departments for innovation;

Secondly, to highlight specific areas where innovation can be better exploited; and

Thirdly, to identify future innovation support arrangements. I also want it to help create a greater awareness of innovation potential throughout the economy.

My goal is to make Ireland a leader in innovation. Innovation will contribute powerfully to competitive advantage and will help to increase productivity in various ways, such as more consumer driven innovative products and services as well as the evolution of new business models, new organisational structures and new work practices.

Ireland’s legislative framework in Intellectual Property and in other relevant fields has helped companies here to protect and use their intellectual property assets more effectively. The framework provides exclusive rights, which developers and owners of intellectual property can use to make economic returns on investments in products and processes. It also promotes the production and development of creative industries and of innovation, through giving exclusive rights to exploit IP, while acting as a deterrent to would-be imitators and infringers.

We have also been making more efforts over recent years to encourage the development of intellectual property by means other than IP regulation. This country is an attractive location for holding companies where 12.5% tax is applicable to the profits generated by IP rights holding companies. Stamp duty exemption for transfers of "intellectual property" such as copyright, patents and trademarks also underlines Ireland’s intention of becoming a world leader in converting ideas into jobs.

Our efforts have not been confined to legislation. We have greatly increased public support for research and, in that context, we have also taken several steps since 2004 to encourage the transfer of IP across innovation communities, and especially, out of the research environment and into industry. This has been done through several national initiatives, including a code of practice on the commercialisation of IP coming from publicly-funded research, and another on commercialising public-privatecollaborative research. As the challenge of cost competitiveness must be met by higher value added output across the economy, we continue to invest in Ireland’s science base as one important cornerstone underpinning our future place in the world. A strong science base matched by a paradigm shift in the capacity of our enterprise sector to create knowledge, to innovate, and to exploit new knowledge across global markets marks out Ireland’s future Strategic direction.

The Strategy for Science Technology & Innovation, launched in summer 2006, addresses these very demanding challenges. The NDP commitment of €8.2 billion over the 2007-2013 period has provided the financial resources to allow us continue to grow the recent heightened level of innovative activity across the economy. The Vision of the Strategy is that Ireland by 2013 will be internationally renowned for its research, be at the forefront in generating and using new knowledge for economic and social progress, within an innovation driven culture. Thus the Government’s investment multiplied with private sector investment will improve our competitiveness through significantly enhancing our capacity to create and use knowledge both in enterprise and from Ireland’s science base.

I have to acknowledge that the European Union role is central to most of what I’ve had to say here today. Our integrated approach to innovation has to be seen in the context of the Member States collective efforts to pursue the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, and to raise the levels of innovation, both technological and non-technological, across the EU.

Equally, our intellectual policy regulatory regime is based largely on meeting national obligations under EU-level Directives and decisions. Many of our IP laws and regulations are transpositions into Irish law of EU Directives and Regulations.

The Commission’s work over the years, in harmonising and co-ordinating national approaches in the IP field, has had a powerful effect in creating and securing the benefits for all Member States in Commissioner McCreevy’s area of responsibility - the internal market.

A lot has been done to harmonise the IP environment across the EU in the collective interest of the member states of rights holders and of business but [as the Commissioner indicated in his address] there are, as always, new issues. In patents, reduced legal, translation and other costs through proposals for the creation of a Community Patent, and of a European Patent Litigation Jurisdicition, are major prizes well worth the ongoing efforts of Commission, Council and, in due course, of Parliament in negotiating them.

In the copyright field, the rate of change in internet and other digital technologies has been throwing up new issues at an increasing rate. I know that the Commissioner has already announced his intention to bring forward proposals to extend the term of protection for performers in sound recordings from 50 years to 95 years. While I am aware that there are a variety of views amongst the Member States on the best approach in this field, I look forward to considering the Commission’s proposals and in consulting on it in due course with interested parties in Ireland.

Finally, counterfeiting is amongst the more important of many other important IP issues at EU level. Within the past week or so, the Council has given the Commission a negotiating mandate to work with various developed countries on the US proposal for a trade agreement on counterfeiting. While the resulting draft text will need to uphold the mix of competences between Commission and Council in IP and in criminal law, the objective of strengthening IP protection in traded goods and services would certainly be helpful if it filled gaps not covered by existing multilateral agreements, and provided a stronger framework for IP protection.

All countries are faced with challenges from the scourges of counterfeiting and piracy. Ireland is no exception. An Interdepartmental Committee was set up last year by the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform to report on the need for extra measures to deal with DVD Piracy. The Committee, which included representatives of several Departments, the Revenue Commissioners and the Garda Siochana, has now completed its work and I understand that its report is expected to be published in the next month or so.

Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for helping to mark World IP Day 2008 by attending today. Again, my thanks - on your behalf - to William Frys for organising and hosting this important briefing session.